January 21, 2019
Regulatory Accountability Act to Come Into Full Force July 1
The Regulatory Accountability Act will come into full force on July 1 to ensure the province continues improving regulatory accountability and reducing red tape for local governments, businesses, non-profit organizations and residents, Finance Minister Scott Fielding announced today to mark Red Tape Awareness Week in Manitoba.
“Red tape creates unnecessary provincial rules and processes that reduce the quality of public services and discourages economic growth and job creation,” said Fielding. “This legislation is helping us create an effective, efficient and transparent regulatory system, and will make Manitoba the most improved province for regulatory accountability by 2020.”
The Regulatory Accountability Act is the most comprehensive framework for managing regulatory requirements in North America, Fielding said. The act requires government to keep track of how many regulatory requirements exist and where they are located. The initial measurement identified more than 948,000 different regulatory requirements on non-profits, local governments, businesses and private citizens.
In the two years following the initial measurement, the Manitoba government has reduced the number of regulatory requirements by more than 24,000. Manitoba was also the first province to legislate a one-for-one rule, capping the growth of regulatory requirements to avoid future red tape.
Provisions that will come into effect in July include:
• posting all policies and forms online;
• legislating a two-for-one rule to cap the growth of regulatory requirements and avoid future red tape, which means that for every new regulatory requirement introduced, two must be eliminated.
In addition, the minister noted the remaining provisions of part 6.1 of The Statutes and Regulations Act will come into force on Oct. 1. Provisions that will come into effect include:
• introducing mandatory 45-day public consultations on proposed regulations, and
• requiring mandatory three-year reviews of new regulations.
Red Tape Awareness Week is held in January of each year, and runs from Jan. 21 to 25. The proclamation of Red Tape Awareness Week draws attention to the costs associated with red tape and excessive regulations and highlights governmental efforts to reduce red tape.
For more information on red tape reduction in Manitoba, visit www.gov.mb.ca/reduceredtape/.
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